Oricon rankings for Ibu & Kuki singles

According to the Oricon singles Best 100 chart dated 27 March, Ibu Shinji's 2nd solo single "Start~Boku no Yukue" and Kuki Kiichi's first solo single "Kiichi no Hayaguchi Kotoba" have achieved the positions of No.63 and No.95 respectively. The results are also mentioned on the NEC Interchannel website.

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Suwabe Junichi-san!

Today's the 34th birthday of Suwabae Junichi who plays the charismatic captain of Hyotei Gakuen, Atobe Keigo! His hometown is Tokyo, blood type A and his agency is Tokyo Haiyuu Seikatsu Kyoudoukumiai or Haikyou for short. By the way, fellow Tenipuri seiyuus who also come from the same agency include Kondo Takayuki (Oishi), Namikawa Daisuke (Ootori) and Minagawa Junko (Echizen). For your information, the picture which I've provided in this feature was scanned from the latest issue of Seiyuu AniMedia where he had an interview with another seiyuu for the anime Fate / stay Night.

In case you wonder if I'm practising favouritism because this birthday feature is unusually detailed as compared to the other seiyuus, it's just that there's more information on Suwabe-san. If I had the same amount of data for my other favourite seiyuus like Kusunoki Taiten or Okiayu Ryoutarou, I will do the same. Of course, I do admit that I have a soft spot for Suwabe-san...^__^

Actually, Suwabe-san became a seiyuu cum narrator after going through a number of jobs since his university graduation. He has a significant number of projects under his name considering that his career is relatively short compared to the veterans. I've heard his voice in other animes like Fullmetal Alchemist (Greed is so charming!). Besides this, he also appears in Karin, Gundam, Gokujo Seitokai, GTO, Shakugan no Shana, Tenjou Tenge, Peacemaker and BLOOD+. Suwabe-san's latest project would be in the upcoming spring anime, NANA where he takes on the role Takakura Kyosuke. No doubt it may not be a major role, I'm still looking forward to hearing his voice in the anime. As for his narrator projects, you can hear his voice in programmes like Shin Docchi no Ryoori Show, Hello! Morning, Hustle Hustle and Sky PerfecTV! promotion channel.

As Atobe Keigo, Suwabe-san has released 8 singles, 1 album and had a guest appearance in the Seigaku Trio single, "Bokutachi no Shippai". Among these CDs, he holds the title of having the highest ranking single under the Tenipuri CD series as the 100th title, "Riyuu/E-kimochi" debuted at No.9 on the Oricon weekly singles chart dated 11 April 2005. He will also be teaming up with Okiayu Ryoutarou (Tezuka), Kusunoki Taiten (Sanada) and Minagawa Junko (Echizen) in the new unit GIGS for the single cum OP for the OVA series, "FLOWER~Sakuranka" due to be released on 31 May.

Suwabe-san is known to be a car-maniac and owns 3 European cars and 2 motorbikes. Besides that, he is also enthusiastic about his sneakers collection and has a pet chihuahua by the name of Zero. The photos on his official website are all taken by himself. Refer below to more of Suwabe-san's interesting little facts about himself according to what he has provided on his profile page:

- He doesn't like to be told whether someone looks like him or he looks like some celebrity.

- Height = 173cm, Weight = 60 kg (deviation of 2 to 3 kg most of the time)

- Shoe size = 26.5cm (same as me...yes, my shoe size is considered quite big for females but it runs in the family...^___^ I can't help it anyway.)

- Hobbies: cars, motorbikes, movies, music, collecting sneakers, soccer, cooking and drinking alcohol

- He doesn't smoke and hates smoking. (Understandable for someone who needs his voice to make a living...I'm also an anti-smoking person.)

- He uses DoCoMo FOMA P900iV as his mobile phone.


- Traits he likes in a girl: Likes to laugh, enjoys eating, similar views on finances, independent in many ways, ability to recover from disappointment/problems and someone who has everything that he doesn't have.

- He likes all types of food and is especially fond of stewed food of late.

- He dislikes natou, cucumber and Japanese desserts especially those which come with a filling. (Hmm...I don't really like sweet stuff too...)

- Favourite drinks include most alcoholic beverages especially beer, shochuu and bourbon.

- He dislikes drinks which are supposed to be fruit juices but are artificially made without real juices as well as coffee which has sugar or milk added to it. (I don't drink coffee and I understand his annoyance with those "half-baked" fruit juices because I don't like those stuff too.)

- Favourite TV programmes are mainly documentaries like "Jounetsu Tairiku", "Sekai Issan", news programmes like "World Business Satellite" and soccer-related shows.

- There are too many favourite movies to name but the most recent movie he watched was "Brothers Grimm" which he gave 3 stars out of 5.

- He likes books by Edogawa Ranpou.

- Favourite sports = soccer & motor sports like F1, WGP, WRC

- He has no particular preference when it comes to music.

- Favourite brands include SOPH., STUSSY, PRADA SPORT and NIKE.

- Favourite flowers include roses, sakura and osmanthus. (Roses do suit the image of Atobe-sama. ^__^ No wonder Suwabe-san is perfect for the role of Atobe Keigo!)

- Owns 3 cars and likes English & Latin-style models. 2 motorbikes i.e. a Racer and Big Star.

- Favourite animal: dog

- He would catch up on sleep during his off days and loves to cook dishes which take up a lot of time while sipping his alcohol.

- He wants to have time and a strong heart as well as aspires to do work which will bring satisfaction.

- He treats work as play and vice versa so he enjoys himself so much that he doesn't have the need to find a special place to have fun.

- The first CD he bought with his pocket money was Tahara Toshihiko's "Kimi ni Bara Bara" (Giving you roses) and he couldn't remember why he chose this.

OVA Vol 1 Ep 1: Kaettekita Oujisama (The prince who has returned)

Received the DVD last Friday and finished watching it last night. Before I go into the storyline, here is a description of the contents. Besides the DVD itself, there are two photos instead of the usual three given out in the anime series DVD. In this first volume, the two characters who get to have their photos included are Tezuka and Echizen. Incidentally, both of them have made their return to the series through the OVA since Echizen was supposed to be in the midst of his US Open tournament while Tezuka should have returned after a long treatment trip in Germany.

Actually, I wonder if the scriptwriter had forgotten about the ending of the series since the sudden appearance of Tezuka at the lot-picking session of the National Tournament didn't seem logical. Tezuka had already returned to Japan during the Senbatsu Arc and announced his return to the Seigaku team soon after that. It was even before Echizen's departure for the US Open. As such, the so-called "return" of Tezuka where everyone seemed so shocked over it just felt awkward as if the scriptwriter wanted to put attention on Tezuka. Besides, since he had already returned to the team, it didn't seem logical for him to let Oiishi turn up for the lot-picking alone since he's the bucchou. Well, I'm not complaining about more airtime for Tezuka but then the scriptwriters should get their act together and not put conflicting developments in the plot.

As for the other freebies, there's the mini-poster of Echizen, Tezuka, Atobe and Shiraishi in the same fashion as the cover. There is also a form where you collect the coupons in the remaining 6 volumes to take part in a lucky draw. Last but not least, there's the form for the special screening of OVA Vol 2 to be held in May where fans can also meet some of the seiyuus.

Within the DVD itself, there is the seiyuu interview and audio commentary by Mizuki Hajime (Ishida Akira) and Fuji Yuuta (Tomita Makoto). In the seiyuu interview, you won't get to see the entire Seigaku cast since there are only 5 of them which includes Minagawa Junko (Echizen), Tsuda Kenjirou (Inui), Kawamoto Naru (Kawamura Takashi), Kiyasu Kohei (Kaidou) and Suwabe Junichi (Atobe). Apparently, the filming of the interview was done on the first day of the recording and Minagawa happened to be nursing a bad flu since she was coughing and sniffing away. As for the audio commentary, you will get to see the whole episode being replayed as you hear Mizuki making snide remarks here and there while Yuuta tries to keep Mizuki from going overboard. ^__^ It was quite funny to hear them speak although I thought it would have been better to see them in person rather than watch the whole story all over again.

Coming to the storyline, if you have been following the manga, you would notice some differences in the OVA. The seiyuus also said that the story would not follow the manga completely but they were unclear about the direction as at this point in time. Essentially, this episode tells you what happened before the Nationals Tournament begins. Like what I mentioned above, the lot-picking session just didn't gel with the ending of the anime series but this was somewhat similar to the manga itself because at that time, Tezuka had not returned from Kyushu. As such, it can be interpreted in the sense that the staff were trying to twist the story in the anime to go in the same direction as the manga.

Most of the episode was on the first day of competition for the National Tournament with Higa and Rokkaku having a face-off. Of course, we all know by now that Rokkaku lost miserably but Saeki's efforts were commendable despite his teammates sending Oji to the hospital and being alone on the court. Frankly speaking, the Higa guys with the exception of Hiragoba Rin were definitely not good-looking and they got on my nerves so much that I can't wait to see the Higa arc over soon. However, it looks as if these guys will be around until at least Vol 3 since Vol 2 only features the matches of Singles 3 (Echizen) and Doubles 2 (Taka-san & Fuji).

Another significant difference was Oiishi challenging Echizen to a match where the latter has to win all the sets in order to secure a place in the team. Well, in the manga, it was Oiishi vs Tezuka since the latter returned from Kyushu but in the anime, Echizen was the one who was absent for a period of time so Oiishi wanted to get him into the team and boost Seigaku's chances in the National Tournament.

The next episode in Vol 2 due in May will definitely mark the start of the Higa arc so we can finally get to see some tennis action very soon.

With regards to the content in this first episode of the OVA, I can't say that there are too many surprises since the developments are largely in tune with the manga. My only grouse would be that I'm not seeing enough of my Top 3 favourites. Atobe had only one line, Sanada had two and Tezuka had less than 5! Give me more of them! However, I think it will be sometime before I see Sanada again since he might appear only if Seigaku appears in the finals against Rikkai. As for Atobe, once the Higa arc is over, he will appear but I'm definitely not looking forward to him losing to Echizen and his hair being shaved off by that brat. Yes, he lost in the singles 1 quarterfinal match and Echizen actually shaved Atobe's hair off while he was immobilised due to fatigue. This development was shown in the latest issue of Jump and it will be a month later before we get the next issue since Konomi-sensei is taking time off to recuperate from his accident injuries.

Tenipuri drawstring bag and poker card from Mekke!

New merchandise updates from Mekke! again! First of all, it's the Tenipuri drawstring bags sold in a set of 2. The bigger version is yellow in colour as shown in the picture and the smaller version is white. The images on both items are different as the bigger one has the bucchous of the various schools and the top 3 players in Seigaku i.e. Tezuka, Fuji and the lead character Echizen Ryoma. Funny thing is, do you notice that the centre of the picture shows Tezuka instead of Echizen? ^__^ The bucchous featured here include Atobe Keigo, Yukimura Seiichi, Tachibana Kippei and Shiraishi Kuranosuke. Well, I'm not complaining about Tezuka being the centre of attention though. As for the smaller version, it shows the match lineup in the National Arc. By the way, this item is one of the official goods sold during Jump Fest 2006 and the whole set is selling for 1000 yen.

Next is the Tenipuri poker cards set which is selling for 1200 yen. Like the item above, this is also one of the official goods from Jump Fest 2006. According to the description, the 54 cards feature different characters so there should not be a situation of the more popular guys having multiple cards. Besides, the characters featured include both Seigaku and the rival schools thus it should be easy to find your favourite characters within this set unless that guy happens to be in the highly neglected or never-got-to-play-a-single-match categories.

Besides the above-mentioned items, there are some official merchandise sold in conjunction with the launch of the OVA DVDs but as these items are produced by Showa Note, I have no idea where to get them online so I will feature those goods at a later date.

Flower~Sakuranka by GIGS & Yanagi Renji 2nd single

I can't believe that this is true because it's like someone knows my wishes and keep granting them one after another. ^__^

With the impending release of Sanada Genichirou's album on his birthday in May, here comes the single, "Flower~Sakuranka" by newly-formed unit GIGS. What excites me is that not one, but all three of my top favourites are in this unit! I'm quite neutral about the inclusion of Echizen Ryoma in the lineup because I'm so thrilled at seeing Tezuka, Atobe and Sanada together that nothing else bothers me now. I have no idea what the name of the group stands for since it can't be their initials and the NEC Interchannel website has yet to mention this too. Anyway, the song will be the OP for the OVA DVD series and the single will be released on 31 May. For those who are interested, you may check it out at HMV Japan or CD Japan. I did a search on Amazon Japan but this item is not listed yet.

There will also be a birthday single for Yanagi Renji on 4 June and title is not announced at the moment. Wow, consecutive singles from Takemoto Eiji-san who just released one under the name of Kuki Kiichi and now as the Master of Rikkai? This will be Yanagi's 2nd single since the first release, "Dream to Remember" in 2002 which was of the techno/dance music genre. Will it be a ballad or even a rock number this time round? Well, since there's one for Yanagi, will there be any for Inui since his birthday is on 3 June?

Sanada Genichirou's first album Update #1

The word is finally out.

Sanada Genichirou's first solo album will be released on his birthday i.e. 21 May and it will consist of 2 discs as stated on CD Japan! I wonder what kind of freebies will Interchannel have in store for us? An additional disc...talk segment with all Rikkai members or maybe with the other two bucchous Atobe and Tezuka?! If the latter does come true, I will faint due to excitement since my Top 3 favourites will get to appear together. Well, this is just an ideal situation for me but nothing is concrete yet. Besides, it is even not confirmed that there will be 2 discs since HMV Japan states that there will only be one disc while Amazon Japan has not listed the item yet. I will keep a lookout on news regarding this title and keep everyone updated.

More information on this album...

Title Undecided Yet
Catalog Number: NECA-30167
Price: 3000 yen (inclusive of tax)

According to the Interchannel website, recording of this album was completed on 18 March which coincided with Kusunoki Taiten-san's birthday so the completion party also became a birthday celebration for Taiten-san. Since it was mentioned in the staff message that it will be 2 months before the album is out, I guessed that it would be a birthday album and I'm glad that it turned out to be what I expected.

Tenipuri OVA official website

For those who are interested in finding out more on the OVA series, you may access the official website where there is information on the storyline, covers of the sale and rental DVD versions, listing of the freebies/premiums for the first press DVDs, the latest official merchandise manufactured by Konami and Showa Note as well as news on upcoming events. To mark the release of Vol 1 this Friday, there is a form included in the first press edition which will allow you to enter a lucky draw. 1600 fans will be picked among the entries to participate in the special screening of OVA Vol 2's Ep 2 on 7 May where a talk show will also feature seiyuus like Minagawa Junko and Suwabe Junichi. I believe fans will respond to this event actively since Vol 2 (Ep 2 and 3) will only be released on 26 May and they can get to watch Ep 2 first as well as meet the seiyuus.

And here's the list of characters who will appear in Ep 1 i.e. Vol 1 of this OVA:

Echizen Ryoma / Tezuka Kunimitsu / Ooishi Shuuichirou / Inui Sadaharu / Fuji Shuusuke / Kikumaru Eiji / Kawamura Takashi / Kaidou Kaoru / Momoshiro Takeshi / Ryuuzaki Sumire / Sanada Genichirou / Yanagi Renji / Yagyuu Hiroshi / Kirihara Akaya / Atobe Keigo / Kabaji Munehiro / Aoi Kentarou / Saeki Kojirou / Kurobane Harukaze / Itsuki Marehiko / Oji / Kite Eishiro / Kai Yujirou / Chinen Hiroshi / Shiraishi Kuranosuke

Seeing the lineup has made me even more enthusiastic about watching the OVA because I get to see my favourite Top 3 within the same episode! I'm counting down to the 24th and hope that I can receive it promptly or even earlier. ^__^

Tenipuri Real-Life Movie website

Other than lots of complaints about the real-life movie messing up the story and an equally controversial cast line-up, I am convinced that my decision to avoid this movie like the plague would be in my best interests especially after surfing the official website. I value my life and do not want to die of being so angry over it. Besides, I still want to indulge in my wonderful world of the anime and manga so I don't want the real-life movie to spoil things for me. Thus, you won't see a single screenshot of the website here. That just shows how much I'm so against the adaptation of Tenipuri into this movie. And I cannot understand why Konomi-sensei allowed this to happen. Did he have a say in rejecting this proposal?

Here are the differences which made my blood boil and strengthened my resolve to boycott the movie:

(Note that the following also appears in the forum I manage.)

- In the movie, Nanjirou (Kishitani Goro) called Ryoma back to Japan and enrolled him in Seigaku BUT in the manga, the whole Echizen family had been in the US before Ryoma was even born and they moved back to Japan together.

- In the movie, Ryuuzaki Sumire (Shimatani Hitomi) is the junior of Nanjirou and the coach of Seigaku's tennis team BUT the original setting is Ryuuzaki-sensei is Nanjirou's TEACHER and is an obasan. Her granddaughter is in the same academic year as Ryoma i.e Junior High Year 1 so how young do you think Ryuuzaki-sensei is? That was why I kept harping on the point that Shimatani is not suitable to play Ryuuzaki and wondered why the decision was made this way. Now then I know this is deliberate.

- Where is Sakuno? She is the granddaughter of Ryuuzaki-sensei and was saved from some gangster-like characters on the train through Ryoma's intervention. She is important because she has been holding a torch for Ryoma and his seniors keep teasing him about Sakuno even though he doesn't realise her feelings. Although I found her a nuisance at times when she kept chanting Ryoma-kun, I still think she's essential to the story. And what do you have in this movie? A new character Higaki Shion who's sickly and has an elder brother Egate who's after Ryoma's blood for whatever reason!

- There is no such member by the name of Egate Macroudo Higaki in Hyotei Gakuen! Can they stop pushing such unknown characters to Hyotei's wonderful lineup of bishonens?!!! What will Atobe think of such a character in his team?!

- Oishi did not play in the Kantou Tournament First round against Hyotei because he was injured. Momo was the one who played doubles 2 with Eiji against Oshitari and Mukahi. And in the movie, Momo gets sidelined?!

- In the reserve match, Ryoma should have played Hiyoshi instead of this who-knows-where-he-comes-from Egate Higaki.

- As for the cast, I give up totally. How can they spoil Tezuka and Atobe's images like that?! How can Ore-sama Atobe look like a punk and Tezuka look soooo old?! What happened to Ore-sama's classy rich boy look and Tezuka's demure handsome guy look? Oh no!!!

- And Kishitani Goro doesn't look like the lecher-oyaji Nanjirou but I think he can cover up this flaw because he's a good actor.

I doubt I'll have the motivation to post any information about the movie in future. For updates, please go to the official website. I will stay true to the manga and anime so my blog will follow my beliefs. Sounds like a political statement? ^__^

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Kusunoki Taiten!

Today's the 39th birthday of Kusunoki Taiten-san who plays Sanada Genichirou, one of my favourite Top 3 characters! Taiten-san was born in 1969 at Tokyo and his real-name is Fukuda Taiten. According to his official website, his height is 173cm and weight is 65kg. Apparently, his weight does fluctuate quite a bit and he was discussing dieting methods with Okiayu Ryoutaro-san who plays Tezuka during Rajipuri in Aug 04. His blood group is the same as me i.e. B and another similarity between us would be having our birthdays in the same month. Besides Tenipuri, I've also heard Kusunoki-san's voice in animes like Yakitate Japan (the Monaco King) and Meine Liebe (the principal of Rosenstolz Academy). Other than that, he also appears in productions like Eyeshield, Gunslinger Girl, NARUTO, Xenosaga THE ANIMATION, Rupan Sansei, Yuu Gi Ou, Gundam and Kochikame.

As Sanada, he has released 2 solo singles (Meisei and Keep Going On!)and 2 group singles, "Wonderful Days" from Pull Tab to Can" and "Gather" from Ao to Bin to Kan. Kusunoki-san has also appeared regularly on Rajipuri as the monthly personality or guest. The months when he was one of the main personalities were Aug 04 with Okiayu-san (Tezuka) and Dec 2005 with Minagawa Junko (Echizen Ryoma). It was quite funny to hear him being "bullied" by the other seiyuus like Okiayu-san and Kiuchi Hidenobu (Oshitari Yuushi) for being an o-ssan (old man) and making silly mistakes during the radio show. The photo I've provided at the side is the cover for the Rajipuri Aug 2004 CD which I bought last year.

Before I forget, Sanada i.e. Kusunoki-san is due to release his first solo album soon and I expect it to be out by his birthday on 21 May which happens to be a Sunday. CDs are usually released on Wednesdays so I'm hoping NEC Interchannel can make an exception to release it on Sanada's birthday itself to make it a memorable item. Of course, I will be dying to get my hands on this title as soon as possible and I hope that there would be lots of kakkoii pictures of my dear Sanada! ^__^ You can't imagine how long I've prayed for the release of Sanada's album and when I read the news, I was going wild with joy so I'm eagerly counting down to Sanada's birthday in another 2 months.

DVD and CD release of The Imperial Match Hyotei Gakuen 05 - 06

There will be a DVD and CD release for the Imperial Match Hyotei Gakuen musical which was staged at the end of last year. Please note that the items can only be purchased at the Animate stores in Japan so you won't be able to find them on websites like CD Japan, Amazon Japan or HMV Japan. I guess these are made exclusive to customers who patronise Animate so you may wish to check them out if you are in Japan or have a friend there to buy them on your behalf.

First of all, the title of the DVD is "Musical [Tennis no Oujisama] The Imperial Match Hyotei Gakuen in winter 2005-2006" and the release date is 20 March. The catalog number is MJDB-70363 and the item produced by Marvellous Entertainment costs 9240 yen. There are two DVDs in the package where the first DVD is the actual musical which lasts for 150 minutes while the second DVD is the special footage lasting for 190 minutes. According to the description, the special disc will have things like backstage footage and how the stage was constructed. There will also be a special pamphlet which contains information on the cast and lyrics of the songs performed. The first press version of this title will contain a 2006 desktop calendar from Apr 06 to March 07 so once the limited stock runs out, the normal press will not come with this freebie.

As for the CD, the title is "On My Way" and this seems to be a single instead of a full album since the selling price is only 1000 yen. Most albums cost more than 2500 yen so I doubt this will be an album. The release date is on 22 March and the catalog number is NECM-10038. I don't have the tracklist so you may wish to check out the Animate website to see if there's any mention of the title. I believe that this song is performed by all the actors in the musical concerned since it's mentioned on the musical's website that the performing artiste(s) is "ALL CAST".

In any case, even if you purchase this via Animate's website, you would need to reside in Japan since they do not ship overseas. By the way, there seems to be an Animate store in Taipei, Taiwan and you may go to their website to see if they carry these items too.

Musical Tennis no Oujisama Concert - Dream Live 3rd

The Musical Tenipuri Concert - Dream Live 3rd will be held at Zepp Tokyo on 28th and 29th March where there will be a total of 5 sessions. The tickets are sold at the price of 5300 yen each and they are available from 19 Feb onwards via Lawson Ticketing. For those interested in this musical/concert, you may refer to the following website for details like the cast line-up and production trivia. Frankly speaking, I'm not very keen on the Tenipuri musicals so even if I do get a chance to see them, I doubt I'll be interested anyway. The musicals seem to be quite popular in Japan though.

I'm hopelessly devoted to the anime and the manga ^__^ thus any possibility of spoiling my wonderful image of the series will be avoided at all costs. And that explains why I am shunning the real-life movie like the plague. Nonetheless, I just hope it won't fare too badly at the box office even though I may not want to watch it.

Updates to real-life movie merchandise

Before the real-life movie is shown in cinemas during summer, there will be 2 related items released in April and May.

Firstly, the making-of DVD titled "Tennis no Oujisama Navigate" will be released on 21 April and it consists of 1 DVD. Maybe there would be additional freebies but given that the price is only 2500 yen, I doubt that there would be much to expect. In addition, since this is not an anime production, the DVD is produced by Rentrak instead of Bandai Visual and the catalog number is REDV00456.

Secondly, the movie soundtrack where the title is not announced yet will be released on 12 May and it consists of 1 CD. The price of this item is 2940 yen and will be produced by Geneon Entertainment instead of NEC Interchannel which has been handling all anime-related music releases. Catalog number is GNCL7004.

I seriously doubt that I'll buy these two items since I'm not interested in the real-life movie itself so I'll save the money for the OVA DVDs and upcoming anime character CDs instead.

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Sakaki Taro!

Today's the birthday of Sakaki Taro from Hyotei Gakuen who's more commonly known as Sakaki Kantoku (Coach Sakaki). He's one of the coaches featured regularly along with Ryuuzaki Sumire, Hanamura Aoi, Banji and Oji and can be considered as relatively young (although he's already 43) like Hanamura because the others are rather advanced in age. Sakaki has an easily identifiable trait of saying "Itteyoshi" (It's OK for you to leave)with two fingers from his right hand pointing outwards which many fans love to imitate. Coupled with the fact that he always wears the same suit with a flashy scarf, it will be hard for you to forget Sakaki Kantoku once you've seen him in action. Oh well, he doesn't really speak much other than give instructions or dish out criticism to the Hyotei guys but that "Itteyoshi" phrase always pops out without fail. ^__^

Actually, Sakaki is also a music teacher in Hyotei in addition to his role as a coach for the tennis team. With regards to this fact, Onosaka Masaya who plays Momoshiro brought out the point that Sakaki himself may not even know how to play tennis since it's never been shown in the manga or anime that he has anything to do with the sport and wondered if all he is capable of is just to give advice. I guess Sakaki doesn't look like someone who even exercises at all and feels more like a businessman to me but then appearances can be deceiving. I don't think Hyotei will employ him to be the coach if he has nothing to show for it. However, I must admit that the double roles of a music teacher and tennis coach seem to be rather conflicting especially when we are talking about Sakaki.

As I had posted a birthday feature for Sakaki's seiyuu Kosugi Juurota-san last Dec, I won't go into further details and you may click here to view that post.

Real-life movie updates (11 Mar 06)

Currently, the pre-sale tickets of the Tenipuri real-life movie are available through the Animate stores in Japan. The list of branches where this can be bought is shown here. As I've mentioned before, there will be a freebie given to those who buy these pre-sale tickets. The picture of the silicon bands bearing the words Seigaku and Hyotei will offer you a closer look as to how the items appear since my last picture posted wasn't as clear as this. Once the stock runs out, they will not be replenished so for those who happen to be in Japan now or are going there soon, you may wish to check this out at the Animate stores since I doubt they will be made available via other channels like Mekke!. Even if you will not watch the movie, buying the ticket at 1300 yen just to get this silicon band seems like a good deal, at least to me. ^__^ Personally, I like the Hyotei version better because the Seigaku band has a rather dull colour and the words don't really stand out. Either way, I like both schools so it doesn't really matter. Just for your information, there was also a handphone strap given for the purchase of the anime movie's deluxe version and I happened to get the Hyotei type where the other two available were Seigaku and Rikkai. You won't get to see what you get until you buy the DVDs and unwrap the packaging. If I have the time, I will scan the handphone strap and post the image here.

Before I forget, here's a picture of the real-life movie poster which I believe will be displayed at the stores. I doubt it will be for sale, at least not for the time being until the movie is shown in summer. Although I've said repeatedly that I will not watch the real-life movie, I can't help but grumble when I see this poster. The guy on the far right seems to be Inui so why on earth is he so short? Inui is supposed to be one of the taller guys in Seigaku so it looks weird for him to be only a little taller than Echizen. I have to admit that this poster is so small that I can't see their faces clearly so I can't really judge whether they look like the actual characters. I did see a photo of the guy who is playing Tezuka and I can't help but exclaim that he looks way too old to play Tezuka. OK, Tezuka may be known as one of the characters who look older than their actual age (in fact a lot of them and my Top 3 favourites all fall into this category ^__^ ) but do the staff of this movie have to spoil the feel by getting someone looking like this? Forgive me for saying this but the more I read and hear about the real-life movie, the more resistant I am towards watching it. I'm not sure if anyone is really enthusiastic about this movie since I've heard numerous negative comments from fellow Tenipuri fans. Let's just hope that the movie can do OK in the box office and not end up as a flop to dent the reputation of this successful and popular series. I would have thought that doing a real-life movie of an anime or manga would require searching for people who look close to the original characters or have a similar feel. For those who have never paid attention to the musicals or even watched them, how are we supposed to be enticed to watch this movie when we can't name most of the cast members? There are a lot of anime or manga adaptation movies coming up this year but this must be the only one which I feel strongly about the choice of cast members and am reluctant to watch.

Updates on Mekke! Tenipuri Goods (10 Mar 06)

In conjunction with the launch of the real-life movie in summer 06, the following items' stocks available via Mekke! will be replenished accordingly:

1) Seigaku polo T-shirts at 3000 yen
2) Tenipuri cup at 800 yen
3) Tenipuri mousepad at 800 yen

In addition, the Seigaku and Hyotei jerseys which were re-released earlier this year had already been snapped up. As such, new stock will be available by the end of March and the end of April for the Seigaku and Hyotei versions respectively. Note that the new versions does not come with the option of selecting your favourite character's name to be sewn onto the jersey.

Sanada Genichirou's solo debut album to be released!

I am now delirious with joy upon reading this piece of news from Interchannel. The 10th solo album release under the Tenipuri series belongs to Sanada Genichirou!!! Imagine how excited I am because Sanada is one of my Top 3 favourites. Tezuka and Atobe had already released their solo albums so I've been praying hard to see a Sanada album. I can't believe that this is really happening! ^__^ By the way, Sanada's also the first from Rikkaidai to release an album and being the 10th album makes it even more memorable. Although details of the album like the release date and title are not announced, I will be keeping a close lookout for the information since I can't wait to lay my hands on this item!

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Takemoto Eiji-san!

Today's the birthday of Takemoto Eiji-san who plays Yanagi Renji, the master of Rikkai! Takemoto-san was born in 1973 at Yamaguchi Prefecture so he turns 33 today. He used to belong to the agency Lovelife but he's now affiliated to Aoni Production where some of his colleagues who also take part in Tenipuri include Okiayu Ryoutarou (Tezuka) and Onosaka Masaya (Momo). Takemoto-san got married in 2003 as mentioned on his personal website titled, it's my life and has a blog named it's my life on EZ Web. Do check it out to find out more about Takemoto-san whose nickname is Takepon! Besides the role of Yanagi Renji, Takemoto-san also plays Kuki Kiichi who appeared briefly at the beginning of the series as a loser who tried to taunt Tezuka. Takemoto-san will be releasing a single on 15 March using the name of Kuki which is the same day as Ibu Shinji from Fudoumine. More details on this release when NEC Interchannel has updated the information.

Other than Tenipuri, Takemoto-san also participates in animes like Eyeshield 21, Ueki no Housoku, Kinniku-Man, HUNTERxHUNTER, Kochikame, Yu-Gi-Ou, Rurounin Kenshi and ONE PIECE. Sad to say, I've never watched these titles before so my knowledge of Takemoto-san's voice is restricted to Tenipuri. However, I like the unique tone of his voice especially when Yanagi and Inui appear together and talk because these two guys are childhood friends and know each other so far. It's easy to distinguish Takemoto-san's voice just like Tsuda Kenjirou-san's voice so in a sense, they can be said to be made for each other. ^__^

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Yukimura Seiichi

Today's the birthday of the captain of Rikkaidai Fuzokuchuu's tennis team, Yukimura Seiichi! No doubt he's regarded the Big Three within Rikkai and was in the regulars team since Year 1 along with Sanada and Yanagi, Yukimura has never played a single match be it in the anime or manga. That is because right from the time he first appeared, he had been staying in the hospital due to an illness which required surgery. However, I'm glad to inform that he has already recovered and will join Rikkai in their quest for the Nationals title. So far, he has been restricted to the bench as a coach for the team but I'm sure if Seigaku meets Rikkai in the finals, there's no reason to put Yukimura as a reserve since everyone is dying to find out just how good he is. By the way, in case you are wondering where this picture comes from, it was scanned from the Shueisha calendar where Yukimura is featured for the week ending 11 March. His famous line of "Kurou kakeru" (I've been a burden to you) has been repeated countless times whenever he tries to apologise to Sanada and the rest of the members for the inconveniences caused by his absence. Doesn't he look good in casual clothing since all we get to see is him wearing the Rikkai jersey and the hospital wear for patients? Okaerinasai, Yukimura!

I'm looking forward to him playing either Tezuka or Fuji because both him and Tezuka overcame the odds (illness vs injury) to return to the team. As for Fuji, both of them are similar in the sense that they usually smile all the time but who knows what they have up their sleeves? That's why I think that it will be very interesting to see them play against each other. However, this is just my personal wish and the premise must be that Seigaku will win all their remaining rounds before they can meet Rikkai in the finals.

Competition at Rikkai's end is not as stiff if you compare it to Seigaku's journey since they will meet the victor between the Shitenbouji and Fudoumine clash should they beat Hyotei in this round. Well, I think Konomi-sensei would not let Seigaku's journey end like this so it's probably a foregone conclusion that Hyotei will lose. And that means Atobe shaves his hair off?! Oh, no! Oops, I'm deviating from the theme of this post...

I just hope that Konomi-sensei will NOT let Echizen take the match with Yukimura since this usually means that the opponent will lose. Let Tezuka or Fuji play against Yukimura! I am also hoping that Sanada doesn't play with Echizen again. That illogical way of losing in the Kantou Tournament still makes me mad to date. I just don't wish to see the same thing happening to Yukimura who might be showing off his skills for the first time in an official match if Rikkai does meet Seigaku in the finals.

The seiyuu who plays Yukimura is Nagai Sachiko, a lady who's also active in stage plays. By the way, for those who are interested, you may read her official blog here. Nagai-san hails from Kagoshima Prefecture and was born on 8 April. As the character Yukimura, she has released one character single to date by the title of "Shinjitsu". A little piece of trivia about her is that she belongs to the same theatre group as Kiyasu Kohei, another seiyuu who plays the role of Kaidou Kaoru.

Cover of the OVA Vol 1

At long last, here's the cover of the OVA Vol 1 DVD which will be released on 24 March. That's just 3 weeks to go and I can't wait to receive this. Although there will be one episode only, I think it will show some of the schools who are taking part in the Nationals Arc so that's why Atobe is featured on the cover with Tezuka and Echizen. Or else, the Hyotei arc is still far ahead and there's no way Atobe would have been shown in the first volume's cover. Too bad Sanada is not featured here or it would have been an assembly of my favourite Top 3 which would send me going crazy. ^__^ Enough of my ranting though. The guy at the bottom left hand corner with his hand bandaged, I just can't remember who he is at the moment but I think I saw someone from Shitenbouji who resembles this guy. I went to check out the last few volumes and confirmed that this person is Shiraishi Kuranosuke, the captain from Shitenbouji. Why on earth is Shiraishi shown on the cover when Seigaku has not even finished the round with Hyotei? Jump is only at #303 which is Singles 1 between Atobe and Echizen where the loser has to shave his hair off. Oh no...I can't imagine Atobe doing that since it's unlikely that Konomi-sensei will let Seigaku lose. Anyway, we'll probably know why Shiraishi gets to be on the cover when the OVA is out.